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The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided on the track rather than without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off at the COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess aggression will increase further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.